I left my room at the Rio at 11.45am, to take the 10 min walk to the huge card room for Day 1B of the WSOP Main Event. My stomach had been churning all morning ( the toilet being the most popular room in my suite ) Just before the card room you are directed through the Poker Expo, were I side step and dodge the people handing out flyers & free samples. I take my seat on table 117 seat 7 ( is this omen, today's date is 07/07/07 ) The two players to my left, both Americans introduce themselves. I look round the table to see if we had any pro players. I recognise the Danish guy in seat 1 ( still cant think of his name ) no one else, but seat 5 is empty. The announcer booms out on the mic 1 minute to cards in the air. Penn & Teller appear on the screen and shout out SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL. We are of and running. First hand 2 7 phew, I am delighted to pass the first hand. Suddenly the nerves have gone and I could be sitting in the £100 frezzeout in the Maybury. The 1st half hour passes very quickly. I have won 3 small pots with a raise. We head in to the 2nd hour of the level and I get 88 late position, I raise it up and the BB calls, flop 9 high he checks I bet, called, turn 2, he checks I bet he calls, river a 10. I am worried im being sucked in here, he bets 2k, after a short deliberation I pass.

Down to 19k. 15 minutes to end of the 1st level, and I call a raise from the aggressive Dane in seat 1 ( aren't they all ) in the BB with 44, flop 229, I check, he bets, I reraise, he flat calls, we both check the K on the turn, river comes an A, I lead out with a bet he reraises. I pass feeling I had been bluffed off the pot. Finish the 1st level with 17k.

I played 4 hands in the 2nd level JJ, KK, JJ, QQ, all won. Finished the level on 29k. Quick jaunt up to my room to let the wife know, happy as larry with my wee self.

The 3rd level antes are 200 & 400. Don't see a hand for the 1st 45 minutes. Pick up AA raise one caller, bet the flop and take down a 2.6k pot. Don't see anything else till the last 25 minutes. On the BB with A10 spades, and our aggressive Dane pops it up to 1050 2 other callers. so I call from the BB. Flop 8s 7s 5d. I check, the Dane bets 2050, the other callers pass. I pause and think then reraise to 5100. He sits and sits then calls, turn the 6c. I check he checks, river Jc. I sit and think I cant win without a bet, I don't put the Dane on the st8, why would he check the turn ( he has also shown a couple of bluffs ) so I bet out 7k into a 13k pot. He calls and shows 99. I am down to 10k and my head is spinning. Go for dinner with a 11k ( not as cheery as I might have been )

The next level is 200 & 400 with a 50 running ante. The table gets split after 1/2 an hour. I am moved to table 77 ( omen again ) and have about 12k. After about 40 minutes, I find A8 in the small blind. ( 5 at the table have stack in excess of 30k ) seat 10 limps, button folds, I make up the blind, BB checks. Flop A high, I check, bb checks, limper bets 1400, I go all-in for a further 7900, he sits for a good 2 minutes and calls me with 2nd pair. My A stands up. Up to 21K. Don't see much for the rest of the level, finish it on 17k.

So on to level 5 ( 600 and 300 running ante of 75 ) After about 25 minutes, Im in the BB and have just under 14k in chips. The table chip leader raises it up to 1600 one of the button. I pick up 4 7 spades and decide t see a flop for 1k ( there is 3250 in the pot ) flop comes 3d 5s qs ( now the chip leader always made a continuation bet ) Im thinking any spade any 6 and I know he will bet with nothing, so I decide to check raise, as expected he bets 2500, I reraise all-in, he call instantly and shows k 6 spades. I don't hit ( were was the 7 ) ) and go out to K high. Gutted, after seeing of 12 hours and nearly 800 players, but I really enjoyed my experience of the main event, and will be going all out to qualify next year.

Hope I haven't bored everyone